Unfortunately it's also the better journalists/media personalities, such as Tony Snow and Chris Wallace, and even many talk show hosts who constantly use terms such as "jobless recovery," and "dismal economy," and such when referring to what is obviously a booming economy.
It seems to me that job hiring might be lacking in the high tech industry compared to the late 1990s, but nearly every other industry including real estate, retail, commodities, is way up.
The problem lies, I think, with the fact that many of these talking heads are too close to the cutting edge high tech industries, and therefore have a narrow view of what is happening.
I've said it before on FR. My two kids had absolutely no problem getting good paying jobs in late 2003/early 2004. The checkout lines at local businesses and department stores are out the door and I can't get a contractor to do a job because they are all booked weeks if not months in advance.
Slow economy?? Baloney.
For some reason, GOP pundits will not point to the Household Survey job numbers instead of the 12-month laggard Payroll Survey (which only counts jobs in large companies) then the left will continue to score points in what should be a slam dunk by President Bush.
And it's driving me nuts.
But the golden goose of technology spending was sacrificed to corrupt managers, lying venture capitalists, States seeking court award revenue and the Microsoft verdict. This tore apart 20 years of business plans and put cost before growth as the key concern for staying profitable, and surviving.